Safety stop or bumper for railway-cars.



W. D. NIXON, JR. SAFETY STOP 0R BUMPER FORRAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION HLED MAR. 29, 19]].

Patented Jan. 8, 1918.

m x n W ww cm of which the following I s ATJFQNT @FFEE.

WILLARID- D. NIXON, JR., OF CINCI NNATI, OHIO.

SAFETY S'llOli. 0B BUMPER F03 RAILWAY-CARS.

To all who/nit may concern:

Be itl-znown that I, lVILLARD D. NIXON,

Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at Avondale, inClnilFttl,in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Safety Stops or Bumpers for Railway-Cars,

is specification.

I My invention relates to new and useful improvements in bumpers of thetype positioned between the rails at the terminal of a main line trackor at the ends of branch tracks to engage and check acai' moving uponthe track and prevent its passage off from the ends of the track,thepr'im'ary Ob]BCt of my invention born the provision 'Of a'yieldableor resilient bumper which will cause no injury to the car, underordinary conditions.

A further object of my invention resides in the provision of a bumperwhich, unless struck by a rapidly moving car, willin no way be in itselfinjured. I

.Another object which I have in view is the provision of a bumpervincluding a hinged support which is strongly braced against swin ingmovement and which oarries a cushioned bumper proper for engagement. bythe car.

A yet further'object which I have in view is the provision of asuitable'signal device cooperating with the bumper, whereby the v traincrew in charge of the car or train being operated upon the track maytell when they are approaching the bumper and therefore properly thetime at which power should be shut off the brakes applied.

With these and other obj ects in view, my

invention will be more fully described,

illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and then specifically pointedout in the claims which are attached to and form a part of thisapplication.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved invention in use, the trackto which it is applied being shown in longitudinal section; I

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the anchoring devices employedfor securing a brace for the bumper.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated Specification of Letters ."Patent.

Patented Jan. 8, 1918.

Application filed March 23, 1917. Serial No. 158,315.

in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

In order to insure a clear and accurate understanding of my invention Ihave shown it in connection with the terminal of a track including therails 10 fixed to ties 11, in the usual manner. A pedestal 18 has itslower end buried beneath the surface of the road bed and such end isformed with trunnions 12which have pivotal engagement with a supportingbase 13. The pedestalnormally occupies a vertical position, as shown,but may be swung rearwardly about its trunnions 12 as a pivot, undercertain circumstances, as will be later pointed out.

A pocket 20, open at one end, is shaped iiiteriorly to receive an end ofa rail section 21 which forms a brace, as will be later apparent, andthis pocket is provided with laterally directed flanges 22 which seatupon r 1. r iar pocket 28 has spike enflanges which L on the top of iiflanges 30 which ant and rear edges of which they are secured by Therail section 21 is er when its ends the pedestal and d M engage againstthe pedestal bolts or spi Ye in such a n ar inserted in these pockets 20and 28 they imii support and brace the upper portion of the pedestal 18,so that it cannot swing about its hinged support unless sufiicientpressure is brought to bear against it to. further bend the rail members21.

The pedestal 18 is formed with a horizontally disposed bore 32openingthrough its front and rear faces and a plunger or buffer proper33 is reciprocally mounted in this bore. Collars 34 are fixed'upon theplunger adjacent its ends in any suitable manner and wear plates 35encircle the plunger and engage against the front and rear faces of thepedestal 18. A still? heavy helical spring 36 is interposed between thecollar at the forward end of the plunger and the ad acent wear plate,while a somewhat lighter helical llO will ordinarily be avoided.

spring 37 is interposed between the other collar and wear plate. Thesesprings are under a certain amount of compression and operate tonormally hold the plunger in substantially the position shown in Fig. 1.

Obviously, a car moving along the track and striking the forward endofthe plunger Wi l fOIT e i rearwardly against the tension of the spring36 so that the shock of the car striking the bumper'will be cushionedand all injury, either to'the bumper or car, The spring 37 serves tocushion the rebound ofthe plunger when released by movement of the caraway from the bumper. Shouldfthe car be going at too high a speed, when,the

, spring 36 has been wholly compressed, the

shock will be taken up by the'pedestal and its brace 21 and, due to thehinged mounting of the pedestal, the latter may swing somewhatand stillact as an efficient bumper, the

bending steel rail serving as a cushion during this action.

Preferably, I employ a signal device in connection with my bumper, asshown in Figs; 1 and 2. This signal device includes a bracket 38 fixedto the end of one of the ties adjacent the track and journaling aflagstaflf 39 carrying a signal flag 40. A crank arm -l-1 extends fromthe lower portion oil-this flag staif'and is connected by a link 42with" a pivoted depressible trip 43 mounted'ad-v' jacent one of therails to be engagedby the flange of a passing car wheel, thisarrangement being such that depression of the trip will cause the flagstaff to turn andswing the flag at right angles to the track so that thecrew handling the train may tell when the end car is approaching thebumper and,

consequently, can determine at what time the power should be cut off andthe brakes applied. For night work, a signal lantern 4:4: may besupported upon the top of the flag staff and provided with red and greenbulls eyes. If this is the case, the lantern will be so disposed thatthe green bulls eyes will show until the trip is depressed when thelantern will be turned to show the red bulls eyes. Preferably, the flagstafl' is'high that the'members of a train crew upon the tops of cars atthe front of the train will be able to see the signals even if there isa curve in the track. If, desired, airadditional flag may be mounted onthe lower portion of Having thus described the invention, what isclaimed as new is: r r j I 1. A railway bumper including-a pedestalswingingly supported at, its lower end, a

brace at the rear end ofthe pedestal fixed at its ends to thepedestaland road .bed to.

normally hold it against swinging Zmovement, and a cushioned bumperproperprojecting inadvance of and supported by the pedestal. e. H

2. A railway bumper including a pedestal adapted for hinged connectionto a support,

a brace end receiving pocket member secured to-the top of the pedestal,a second brace endv receiving pocket member I adapted forattachment totie, a curved brace seated at its ends in the pocket members to bracethe pedestal against swinging movement, a' plunger reciprocally mountedthrough the pedestalv and provided adjacent its ends with 'abutments,and helical springs engaging be}; tween the abutments and pedestal tocushion.

the, movement of the plunger.

3. A railway bumper including a pedestal adapted to be mounted betweenthe rails of a track and between ties thereof, brace re:

ceiving pockets one adapted to be secured to a. tie at the rear of thepedestal and the other being secured to the topof the pedestal, a curvedbrace seated at its ends in the pocket members to brace the pedestah anda cushioned bumper proper carried by the pedestal and projecting beyondthat side opposite the brace.

In testimony whereof I aflixmysignature;

WILLARD n. NIXON, 'JR. 1. $.1

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of latents,

Washington, D. G. 5

